Automatic coal-spout-swinging device



April 1929. w. H. PHILLIPS 1,711,157

AUTOMATIC COALISPOUTQSWINGING DEVICE Y Filed May 29,1925 4 Sheets'rSheet 1 April 1929- w. H. PH'ILLIPS 1,711,157

! AUTOMATIC COAL SPOUT SWING-ING DEVICE 7 Filed May 29, 1925 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Will April 30, 1929. w. PHILLIPS AUTOMATIC COAL- SPOUTSWINGING DEVICE Filed May 29; 1925 4 Shets-Sheet 4 QO r 'i o o m M all:

m g EM7Z67 o o 7 Qflw a,

i atented Apr. 36, 1929.

"\VILLIAM I-I. PHILLIPS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

AUTOIMATIG COAL-SPOUT-SWINGING- DEVICE.

Application filed May 29, 1925. Serial N'o. 33,634.

My invention relates broadly to furnaces and more particularly to an automatic coal spout swinging mechanism;

An objectof my invention is to provide a mechanism of this type which may be employed to swinga coal spout commonly used for feeding coal to a hopper of an automatic stoker.

A further object of my invention is to employ a continuously traveling chain adapted to be engaged by. the coal spout, the swinging motion of tie coal spout by the chain being accomplished by the provision of improved means detachably secured to the spout and functioning automatically to engage the upper and lower runs of the chain when reaching the end of, the travel each Way.

A further object of my invention is to provide a construction which is simple, inexpensive and reliable in operation, and which may be employed to readily swing the spout to and fro across the front of the furnace by gripping preferably a chain which is of the. continuously traveling type.

An important feature of my invention resides in the particular construction used. A sprocket is employed as part of the engaging mechanism and associated with the sprocket is a pair of pins of novel design alternately interlocking with the sprocket so as to rcstrain its rotation until tripped, and thereafter to allow the spr oket to advance and change its engagement with the chain. This arrangement preferably prevents, however, the sprocket from releasing its hold on the chain, even momentarily, at a time when this change of engagement between the upper and lower runs of the chain ismade, and consequently there is practically little possibility for the sprocket to slip and prevent said change ofengagement from being quickly made. On the other hand, this arrangement affords means for varying the length of travel of the spout across the, hopper of the furnace, and furthermore furnishes a simple and inexpensive motion reversing mechanism v i for. tne swinging coal spout. By properly adjusting the tripping means, the travel of the engaging mechanism may be predetermined, irrespective of the length of the con.-

.tinuously travelling chain. On the other hand, any number of engaging mechanisms.

may be operated from a single drive or chain.

This application is a continuation in part far as the common subject matter is concerned and illustrates the manner of novelly arranging my automatically operated coal spout swinging devices, when used in tandem, or in different numbers, across the front of a furnace, to obtain a balanced drive for the spouts whereby to minimize the power required to operate these swinging spouts from a single drive.

I consider it an important object of this invention that the parts of the engaging mechanism, including the continuously driven chain and the drive therefor, may be arranged as a unitary assembly within a single casing. Standardization is thereby possible and I am able to furnish the mechanism as a unit of one-or more swinging devices capable of attachment, by a minimum number of fastening elements, at the front of furnaces, which may be of different types and sizes.

In the event that itis desirable to keep the fire of the furnace low, coal should be preferably fed manually through the spouts into the hoppers. To meet this requirement, the swinging spouts may be detachablycon.- nected to the engaging mechanism. Such detachable connection may be accomplished vby novelly arranging the mechanism and spouts so that the latter can be quickly released, without interfering With the swinging movement thereof, even momentarily, and without requiring removing bolts, bars, or like fastening members. lllomentarily'stoppingthe spouts from swinging is seriously objectedto by boiler attendants, as it results in irregular feeding of coal and the possibility of the hoppers remaining empty long enough to affect the operating conditions of I the boilers. Manually feeding the coal has an added advantage. It allows the attendant to withdraw coal of a preferred quality from'a certain bin when such quality of coal is needed elsewhere, say in cases where a certain grade of coal is required to start a boiler operating, or to hold the fire banked during hoursof the day when the peak load has beenremoved.

-These and other objects will appear from the following detail d description of a preferred embodiment of my invention when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a furnace having an automatic stoker and a swinging coal spout and illustrating the manner of adapting my invention thereto.

2 is a front elevational view of a reciprocating mechanism en'ibodying my invention and illustrating it as a unitary assembly which may be attached across the front of a furnace.

Fig. 3 is a rear view of this mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a detailed sectional view of the left hand end of the mechanism as shown in F ig. 2, with a cover plate removed to illustrate the drive thereof.

Fig. 5 is a detail View taken at the rear of the same end, illustrating the releasing means employed to change the engagement of the mechanism with the upper and lower runs of a continuously driven chain.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view, taken horizontally through the engaging mechanism;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged front view of the engaging mechanism, with a cover plate removed, however, to illustrate the manner in which the sprocket engages the chain;

Fig. 8 is a front elevational View of a furnace having a plurality of swinging coal spouts, preferably two in number, and driven by the automatic coal spout swinging devices herein shown, the arrangement further showing the method of spacing these spouts whereby to obtain a balanced drive;

Fig. 9 is a similar clevational view illustrating the method of spacing the spouts to obtain this balanced drive when three are used; and I Fig. 10 is similar view of a furnace where four spouts are used.

Prior to my invention, it was customary to feed the coal to the boiler by having a man swing each spout manually back and forth across the hopper. This was not only hard work, but the coal was fed. irregularly, as it was necessary to rely solely on the whims of the man to keep working and moving the spouts regularly back and forth Without stopping. It is apparent, therefore, that the operation of boilers has been seriously affected at times for lack of coal in the hop pers, and that sudden changes would take place when coal was fed in an abundance by the man when returning to the job after resting. It. will be remembered that such labor has caused serious drawbacks to successful operation of power plants, due to local labor conditions and the constant employing of men for this kind of work. Qn the other hand, the present day power plant nvinisv must be built large enough to supply the power required by growing communities. Single stations requiring a hundredor more coal spouts constantly swinging to keep the boilers amply fed with coal are now known. Labor for swinging such large numbers of spouts is costly, if not diliicult to manage, particularly when these stations operate their boilers only during certain hours of the day, say when the peak load is on.

It is apparent, therefore, that automatically operated coal spout swinging devices will have particular utility where they may be attached as units to the front of furnaces, and still further utility where two or more of such swinging devices may be arranged in the form of single units depending on the size of each furnace.

1 preferably embody my invention in amechanism capable of attachment as a unit at the front of a furnace A and provide a drive extending at one end of the mecha= ism for cooperating with the drive of automatic stokcr B. An advantage to be obtained by this arrangement is the standardization of the mechanism and the ability to adapt it to practically any make of stoker or furnace having a swinging spout for feeding fuel thereto. liforeover, when the mechanism is designed in tle form of a unit, the arrangement more readily permits the mechanism to be quickly disconnected from the spout (as before described) in order to operate the spout manually when so desired.

An elongated or rectan ular casing 2 of channel formation, illustrated in Fig. 1, is provided with a trackway 3 its rear wall 4. lhe edges of the channel casing are turned inwardly toward each other to form the upper and lower flanges 5.. This casing may be attached at the front of furnace A in any suitable manner, say by the bars 6 shown in Fig. 1. I

An enga mechanism, in the form of a reciprocating shuttle, is provided for movei out within casing 2, the upper and lowerfianges 5 t-ain the mechanism within the casing.

At the ends of casing 2, sprockets 7 and 8 are suitably mounted for rotation. An endless chain 10 may be entrained over these sprockets and may be oriven through the sprocket 7 which is provided .vith a drive connecting with the drive of sto er This drive comprises a gear 11 on a shaft 12 carrying sprocket 7, and a similar gear 13 on a shaft 1% which extends tl'nough a cover plate 15 and has a sprocket 16 at its outer end. A chain 17 is adapted to be en trained over sprockets 16 and mesh with a gear 18 comprising part of the drive of stoker B. Adjustable take-up means may be provided for keeping the chain taut by 2 a sha ter:-

mounting the end sprocke o tendin g in a block 20 at the rear of easing 2.

serving slightly to overlap and re Block 20 is adjustable in trackway 3 by means of a screw 21 extending through plate 22. Nuts 23 may be threaded either way on the screw 21 to vary the position of the block 20 and consequently the sprocket 8 which is carried thereby.

The engaging mechanism comprises a housing 25 having the vertical side lugs 26, in which rollers 27 may be mounted for movement along the track-way 3. A sprocket 28 is rotatably mounted within this housing 25 on a bolt 29. This bolt is provided with a threaded portion entering the hous ing 25 and has a collar 30 about its cylindrical portion, on which the sprocket 28 rotates. The bolt 29 also serves to secure a cover plate 31 to the front of the housing 25,. this cover plate being provided with outwardly extending lugs 32 for receiving a spout engaging yoke member 33. 1 preferably secure yoke 33 to cover plate 31 by means of pins 34, which may at any time be removed to release this yoke 33.

At the rear of housing 25, a bar 38 may be secured. Internally threaded transverse bosses 39 are formed integrally and have their apertures adapted alternately to register with a series of openings 40 in sprocket 28. This sprocket may be reinforced at both sides by disks 41 also having openings cooperating with the openings 40 and comprising in fact a continuation thereof.

Sprocket 28 may have teeth 45 spaced a predetermined distance apart, which are preferably arranged in pairs equal to the number of openings 40 in the sprocket. As will be noted in Fig. 7 the teeth 45 at the top of sprocket 28 are meshing with the continuously driven chain 10. As I shall later eX- plain, this sprocket can change its engagement with the upper run to the lower run of chain 10. by advancing clockwise slightly so that opening 40 will register with the dotted circle 46. The advancing movement of the sprocket is accomplished by means which I shall later describe, and which may be employed for temporarily holding the sprocket locked against rotation during the v time too engaging mechanlsm 1s moving from one end to the other of casing 2. This means functions mainly to unlock the sprocket temporarily to allow the chain in its traveling movement to rotate the sprocket slightly. This will bring opening 40 in register with the dotted circle 46, whereupon the sprocket may be again locked against rotation. The teeth designated 45 will then be in mesh with the lower run of the chain 10 and the movement of the engaging mecha nism will be reversed.

This means comprises a pair of pins 48 and 49, which have threaded shanks 50 and 51, respectively,'onehaving right handed thread, and the other having a left handed.

thread. The inner ends of the pins are reduced as indicated at 52 and are free to move into the openings 40 in sprocket 28 when brought in register therewith. The pitch of threads 50 and 51 is such that slight rotational movement of pins 48 and 49 will move the latter a distance suflicient to engage or withdraw the portions 52 thereof from the openings 40, as the case may be. It will be noted in Figs. 6 and 7 that these pins are arranged in a manner to allow but one to enter an opening 40 at any one time. Consequently, if the pin 48 is engaging in one of the openings 40 to lock the sprocket 28 against rotation, the pin 49 is withdrawn.

Fingers 53 and 54 are secured to the ends of the pins 48 and 49 respectively. A spring 55 interconnects these fingers at their lower ends. At the opposite ends of casing 2, I have so arranged a pair of brackets 56 that tripping members 57 and 58 provided thereon are in the path of movement of the upper ends of fingers 53 and 54. These tripping members may take the form of rollers, if so desired. When the engaging mechanism is moved to the right as shown in Figs;

3 and 5, the finger 53 is adapted to en gage roller 58 and be pivoted to a vertical position, as illustrated in Fig. 5, for the purpose of withdrawing pin 48 out of engage ment with one of the openings 40 of sprocket 28. This causes spring 55 to be placed under tension, thereby influencing finger 54 to likewise move to its vertical position. This movement, however, is restained until sprocket 28 has rotated slightly so as to bring the opening designated 40 into alignment with the dotted circle 46, which in. Fig. 7 represents the pin 49 in back of the sprocket. In 0 her words, the sprocket is rotated so as to bring the opening 40" in register with this pin 49.- Being under spring tension, the pin 49 is now rotated to its vert cal position, such movement being sufficient for the threads 51 to carry the pin 49 inwardly adi'stance sufficient to-lie in the opening 40 After the sprocket has thus rotated, the pin 48 is prevented from again engaging inone of these openings 40 until a similar operation occurs at the other end of the casing 2, so as to withdraw the pin 49 and allow the sprocket 28 to again rotate or advance and permit pin 48 to engage again.

Yoke 33 serves to engage a coal spout 61 having a flexible joint 65 at its upper end to permit the spout to swing to and fro across the front of the furnace A. Automatic stoker B vis furnished with the usual coal hopper 60,- into which the coal spout 61 feeds. It is common to extend a bar. 64 across the front of the hopper 60 for guiding the coal spout 61, this spout being provided with an anti-friction roller 62 which engages the bar 64. A handle '63 usually extends downwardly a distance to be accessible for manually reciprocating the spout6l. 1

find that it is preferable to arrange my improved spout swinging mechanism, so that it can be readily detached from the spent to allow manual. operation by means of the handle 63. This is often desirable when there is a low fire and hand feeding is necessary, or, when access to the coal in the overhead bunker 66 is desirable, due to the quality of the coal and the desire to use it for another purpose. Yoke 33 is pivotally mounted on the pins 3% carried by the cover 31, and therefore, may be readily released from the spout by moving upwardly about these pins.

1 shall now describe the operation of the device.

Assume that the engaging mechaiisin is approaching the left l and end of the casing as is illustrated in Fig. Fiprocket 28 will be in mesh with the u per run of chain 10 traveling in the direction of the arrow in this figure. It will be remembered, of course, that this sprocket is locked against rotation due to the pin 48 engaging in one of the openings 40. As soon the linger (3, however, engages roller 58, as is illustrated in 5, pin L8 is withdrawn. Sprocl-zet 28 will slip about its pivot until. another opening 40 registers with the pin 4.9. During such slipping, the sprocket remains in mesh, however, with the chain and is not released therefrom. Movement of the pin lS out of interlocking engagement with the sprocket 28 causes the spring to be placed under tension and thereby exert a force against the finger 54, which force will immediately revolve the pin 49 when one of the openings 40 registers with the pin. The teeth 51 are of considerable pitch and of a different hand than that of teeth 50 on pin 48. Conseouently, the pin 49 will be brought into on g .gement with the registering opening L0 and the sprocket 28 held against furl-her slipping about its pivot. Such slipping of the sprocket 28 is for the purpose of briiug'in the teeth 45 in mesh with the lower run or chain 10. The engaging mechanism is new locked to the lower run of the chain and caused to travel to the right. The same tripping action and releasing of the sprocket 28 so as to change its mesh froi the lower to the upper run occurs when the finger 5d strikes against the roller 57. Hence, it will be noted that the engaging mechanism is permitted to move to and fro within the casing 2, its reversing movement occurring as soon as it reaches the ends of the casing 2. During this slipping movement, the sprocket does not disen go the chain. In fact, l find it preferable never to disengage the smock 3t from the chain, so that the enga ing mech anism will always remain caught. Othen vise, there would be a tendency for the heavy spout to prevent re-engagement due to gravity tending to pull it back toward the center.

As before pointed out, I novelly arrange toe various parts of the mechanism within the casing 2 so as to provide a unitary assembly. This assembly is capable of attachn'ient to many types of furnaces, thereby permitting standardization of the parts. I have found, 1 s a general rule, that the casing may fit across the front of furnaces of different sizes. The travel of the: engaging mechanism maybe predetermined by providing the plates of the tripping means adjustable. These plates are provided with bolts which extend through the opening 3 in casing 2 and hold clamping plates 69 in position against the side of the casing opposite to the plates 56 in order to clamp the latter in position. Should the width of the urnace require a shorter travel of the enmechanism than that shown in the c rawings, both plates 56 may be moved. toward the center. On the other hand, should the travel of the engaging mechanism be restricted at one end only, the adjacent plate may be moved toward the center. In other words the arrangement is such that the travel may be quickly changed without requiring any change to be made in the casing, chain 10 or the position of its end sprockets 7 and 8, or in the drive thereof, whether this drive is taken from the stoker drive or from a motor employed especially therefor.

Un the other hand I have found it possible to embody more than one engaging mechanism within the ends of a continuously driven chain in cases where the boiler or furnace is PILOVlClMl with more than one spout. Again, I prefer to arrange these engaging mechanisms (coal spout swinging devices) in a single casing, so that it is possible to install the same as a unitary assembly at the front of the furnace. I wish to emphasize the importance of this arrangement. It allows the installation to be made at minimum. cost, both in labor and in materials. l ewor fastening elements will be required; in fact, only a few holts will be neeessar to attach the corners and several points between the corners to the furnace structure. All the spouts may be evenly spaced and located on the outside of the easin g in order to allow any or all of the spouts to be readilydisconnected and swung out of the hopper. Une important fa. .ture in the spacing of the spouts re ative to each other in order to obtain what term a balanced drive. I believe that I am the first in the held to devise a coal spout swinging device that may be arranged in tandem or a greater number to swing more than one spout of a furnace from a single drive and obtain this balanced drive. Accordingly, I shall claim the broadly.

By referring to Fig. 8, it will be observed that l have illustrated an installation caable of swinging two spouts 61 and 61". by properly spacing the tripping mechanism comprising the rollers 57 and 58, the travel of the shuttle of each engaging mechanism may be predetermined, so that each spout will only be carried over the range of its allotted movement across the front of the furnace. Th se rollers 57 .and 58 are easily adjustable along the casing. Plates 56 carry these rollers and theseplates are capable of being moved along the casing 2, preferably in track 3. In Fig. 8, it will be further observed that the spout 6i is on its return movement toward its center or position of rest and that this movement is consequently assisted by gravity due to the weight of the spout. Spout 61 is, on the other hand, on its upward movement and is being dragged across the coal in the hopper against gravity. The power required to move spout 61 will be the greatest during this upward movement, but the spout 61' is moving with gravity and is therefore capable of imparting energy to the chain, which action I have found balances the increased power required to drive spout 61 against gravity. By positioning the spouts at proper distances apart,

the energy given to the chain by the descending spout will always be proportional to the increased power given up by the chain in lifting the ascending spout. Consequently, I obtain a balanced drive consuming a minimum of power to swing the spouts back and forth across the front of the furnace. This has been an important factor in the use of the invention disclosed herein, as it has assured a considerable saving to power houses having a large number of coal feeding spouts.

in Fig. 9 I have shown the front of a furnace having three spouts, while in Fig. 10 the furnace shown is provided with four spouts. I find that any number of spouts may be swung by a single installation providing a balanced drive as long as the casing spans the frontof the furnace and a chain is employed which travels in this casing and is connected either to the drive of the stoker mechanism or to an independent drive, and further, as long as the tripping mechanism is properly spaced along the casing to reverse the engaging mechanism of each spout when reaching the end of its travel.

Various modifications and otherv embodiments of my invention are possible, and consequently, I do not intend to be limited to the exact disclosure shown herein.

1 claim:

1. In combination with a furnace provided with hoppers for receiving coal to be fed thereto, coal feeding spouts arranged to swing back and forth along said furnace for supplying coal to said hoppers, and driving means for swinging said spouts, said driving means being arranged to space said spouts at distances apart permitting said spouts to balance one another in their movement along said hoppers.

2. In combination with a, furnace provided with hoppersfor receiving coal to be fed thereto, coal feeding spouts arranged to swing back and forth along said furnace for distributing coal along said hoppers, driving means for said spouts comprising an endless belt and a plurality of reciprocating members driven by said endless belt, said reciprocating members each being connected to a point on said spouts. I

3. In combination with a furnace provided with hoppers for receiving the coal fed thereto, lcoal feedin spouts arranged to swing back and forth along said furnace for distributing coal along said hoppers, and means for swinging'said spouts back and forth comprising an endless belt and mechanism for connecting each of said spouts to a point on said belt, said mechanism predetermining the distance each spout is adapted to swing.

4. In combination with a furnace provided with hoppers for receiving the coal fed thereto, coal feeding spouts arranged to swing back and forth to distribute coal along said hoppers, and means for swinging said spouts comprising a plurality of members each movable back and forth across the front of said furnace a distance substantially equal to the swinging movement of each spout, said members being connectible to said spouts and spacing said spouts apart, and a common drive for said spouts whereby the swinging movement of each spout may balance the. swinging move ment of the other spouts.

5. In combination with a furnaceprovided with hoppers for receiving the coal fed thereto, coal feeding spouts arranged to swing back and forth to distribute coal along said hoppers, and means for swinging said spouts comprising a plurality of members each movable back and forth across the front of said furnace a distance substantially equal to the swinging movement of each spout, said members being connectible to said spouts and spacing said spouts apart, a common drive for said spouts whereby the swinging movement of each spout may balance the swinging movement of the other spouts, and a casing for said swinging means allowing a unitary installation thereof at the front of said furnace, said spouts being on the outside of said casing to permit ready disconnection and movement of any one of the spouts out of said hoppers.

6. In combination with a furnace'provided with hoppers for receiving the coal fed thereto, coal feeding spouts arranged to swing back and forth to distribute coal along said hoppers, a casing for the front of said furnace, driving means for swinging said spouts, and tripping elements carried in spaced relation on said casing cooperating with said driving means for limiting the s vinging movement of each spout.

7. In combination with a furnace provided with hoppers for receiving coal fed thereto, coal feeding spouts arranged to swing back and forth to distribute coal along said hop pers, a casing for the front of said furnace, driving means for swinging said spouts, and tripping elements carried in spaced relation on said casing cooperating with said driving means for limiting the swinging movement of each spout, said driving means permitting spacing of said spouts relative to each other whereby to obtain a balanced movement of said spouts.

8. In combination with a furnace provided with hoppers for receiving the coal fed thereto, coal feeding spouts arranged to swing back and forth to distribute coal along said hoppers, and means for swinging said spouts comprising an endless belt and a drive for said belt, a casing, a plurality of spaced tripping elements on said casing, shuttlemembers adapted for movement between said tripping elements, and a connection between said shuttle members and said spouts said shuttle members each connecting to different points on said chain to permit the force of gravity acting against the ascending movement of one spout to be balanced by the force of gravity assisting the descending moiement of another spout.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

vVILLIAM H. PHILLIPS, 

